The Elusive Pair of Shoes

So photo shooting is less than 2 weeks away, and I still have not found my pair of white shoes. It's not that I'm doing (another) last minute job. Ive been keeping an eye out for "that" pair of shoe for a few months now but to no avail. My requirement is very "simple" : must not be too plain, heels mustn't be too short, not too high, comfy, elegant and if it's going to be white, it must be a "nice" shade of white. Hmmm listing it out, it didn't sound so simple after all. Wahahaha!

Anyway, I told someone I NEED to find that pair of shoe this weekend! So off we went shopping...

Its funny how not many shops sells white shoes. Very hard meh? People getting married everyday and even if not for bridal wear, normal people don't buy white shoes one ah? Food for thought...should consider starting up a line of bridal shoes...anyhoo! Back to my topic....

So first shop I went in, my fav affordable shoe shop ... Vincci. Though deep down I somehow doubted they would have nice white shoes meeting my requirements. Lol. But I found this...


Not too ugly, not too plain, and comfy to wear. Only rm79.90 before 20% discount. But it was off-white, slightly creamish. I thought I'd come back and buy this if I 4
Ran out of choice.

Walked in to a few more shops to no avail and finally!!! Parkson came to the rescue! Should have thought if Parkson gurney earlier!

Quite a few pair of white shoes there. I found this, which is like around rm100


heels too short :P




Another one...rm110++ I think. But too off-white...




Then I saw the ultimate holy grail of white shoes...




Soooo pretty! Though not this one which I managed to take a photo off. This my friends, was priced at rm558! Someone got so worried, asked me to put back the shoes quickly. Lol

And then! And then ... I saw this!



I knew I had to make it mine!
And mine it did become :))))


Nice or not???


Affordable and meets most of my criteria. Now I can do kissing poses without having to tiptoe. Kekekeke

Trip to Ipoh

Hellooo...what with the wedding and all that coming up. I can't deny it, it's all about $$$$...and needless to say any holiday out of the country is totally OUT OF THE QUESTION until the wedding end of this year :( But me being me, i just cannot stay quietly in one place. The only option? Cuti cuti malaysia lor! Last weekend was a long weekend, on Friday itself I asked the bf whether he wants to do a road trip that weekend. He asked me where? I thought long and hard (no, not really) and decided IPOH!

On Friday night itself, we made our hotel reservations! This I can say is our most spontaneous trip after so many years. Pathetic isnt it :( On Saturday morning, we started our journey at 10:30am from Penang and arrived at 12:30pm. Yes, we need our sleep :P

This is where we spent the night. The French Hotel....(map location as provided)

        

                         

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Room was reasonably priced (RM148 NETT), comfortably sized, location was good....only gripe, we had to share our car park with the throngs of crowd going to the pasar pagi on Sunday morning =_= and not forgetting being woken up at 6am by the pasar pagi crowd :(

Anyway, the minute we finished exploring the hotel room....we set out for lunch! Where else but to try the famous Ipoh white coffee @ Nam Heong Coffee Shop

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Twice we've been here and twice the coffee shop was pretty full during lunch time. But we were lucky enough to get a seat after a few minutes of searching. There are a few stalls there....the famous one being the egg tart / dim sum stall...I ordered the dried curry mee and of course white coffee (RM1.80 only!) while someone had the PENANG char koay teow! Yes! Driving down from Penang to Ipoh eating PENANG ckt...i was nagging at him while stealing a bite of his ckt and....boy! was it good! LOL (forgot to take a photo)

Went back to the hotel for an afternoon nap and off to the church for Sunset mass at 7pm. Was a bit reluctant to spend my holiday going to church :x but I did not regret it cos look! pretty church!

And there was a "super moon" phenomenon that night...

After mass, we went for the famous nga coi kai @ Lou Wong (beansprout chicken koay teow)

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The place was packed as was our first time there 3 years ago but still we were lucky enough to find an empty table! whee! As you can see, juicy, scrumptious chicken...big juicy beansprouts, smooth koay teow! yums!

Next morning, i was adamant in waking up early for dim sum (which proved to not be difficult since i was woken up by the pasar pagi anyway =_=)

9am and we are already out to....

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Foh San Dim Sum restaurant which really looks more like a palace than anything else. Can you imagine? One big place like that just selling dim sum?? in the mornings! and it was packed full! If finding an empty table in all the other famous Ipoh eateries were difficult, finding an empty table here is SUPER difficult.

Then again, i guess the "Lady Luck of stuffing yourself silly" with food was with me during the whole trip cos I once again spotted an empty table within few mins *proud* Though that didnt come without a slight tussle with an auntie who wanted to hijack my table while i was waiting for the bf to walk over. WTF!

As you can see in the photo above, everyone was waiting like vultures by the side of your table....counting the minutes while you are enjoying your dim sum. Ordering your dim sum from the counter is also not an easy feat! sighs...

Dim sum was mediocre though of a higher quality compared to the dim sum cafes here in Penang but also comes with a big price tag! Would I go back there again? Once in a blue moon ok lah! Just to fight with all the aunties for breakfast dim sum *sniggers*

After that, we got so tired of all the pasar pagi crowds and decided to drive back to Penang after buying all the famous Ipoh titbits. One of them is this famous kaya kok (kaya puff) from Sin Eng Heong

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We were there early and managed to buy lots of these precious pastry back to Penang. At 80cents a piece, it is definitely worth every single cent! Yums! I would go back to Ipoh just for these! 

And with that, that concludes our short Ipoh food trip! :) Which definitely came at a bad time what with my pre-wedding photoshoot coming up in slightly more than a months time...nooooo!!!! Coming up Next....Cameron Highlands food trip!

Wedding save-the-dates

Ok, I'm doing something which I've never done before...I am going to......upload my photo (although a small one)

Tadahhh...how do you like our save-the-date?


Had to crop out our name and other details. Nice or not? Can't tell you which software I used because it was done with some stealth and sneakiness.

Anyway, if you have not received the save-the-date from me dont worry. I only send it to friends who I have not yet informed verbally and those who are out of Kuching. My only regret is, I didn't make the effort to create a save-the-date earlier.

All other friends and relatives were informed either verbally or just a single line email :( this would have been a nicer touch dont you think? The other concern was whether anyone would understand what a save-the-date is.

Not very common in this region I'm sure.

Of Gowns and Losing Weight

Dont know why we are just never keen on doing purchase research. This applies to how we bought our Penang house (decided on buying the first ever condo we viewed)...


wedding reception venue (decided on the first venue we viewed too) and now bridal photoshoot studio. We just thought of walking in and asking about the price and packages but 2 hours later, someone was 4k poorer. Oh actually, we also decided on the wedding day itself by just choosing the Saturday I liked best 'x'

In fact, it worries me a little how we spent so little time on our decisions, because I've heard so many people tell me that ohh I have to do extensive research on the venue and the bridal studio and also on the gown that will match me the most. Why, I've even accompanied a friend who spent 4 hours choosing 6 gowns!

So when we went for the gown fitting, I warned someone beforehand to brace himself for long torturous hours spent at the studio. But surprisingly, I only spent 2 hours choosing 6+1 gowns! Wheeee...


Here's a sneak peak of my selections. Anther one still on the mannequin...


Ok for bride-to-be in Penang who are interested, my bridal studio is stareast Bayan baru branch. Can't give much reviews yet, though service up to now is satisfactory.

Have nt decided on the shooting locations yet, someone insisted on going to the E&O hotel. But they would set us back by at least rm500++ for one nights stay. Hmmm

So after i've chosen my gowns, the assistant was helping me take my measurements and she asked me...can you still lose weight?? want me to reduce a few inches from your measurements??? muuuu...speaking of pressure!!!

It's Official

After "negotiating" with someone over the issue of whether I should blog about this, he has finally relented. Yes! It's official! I am (finally) getting hitched!

Since I have blogged about major life events in this humble blog, i think it is only right that i do not exclude this very special event :) Currently we are very busy negotiating and sourcing for vendors and not forgetting BUDGETTING for the wedding.

Maybe i will blog a little about the preparations...can't wait! Till i have more time to blog, adieu!

Hello again

Dear blog,
Soo much has happened but alas some things are not meant to be shared. So oh we'll.... :(

Bed shopping

Ghee. Broke like shit. Just bought mattress + divan + headboard

Rm3899. But I guess it has to be done *bleeding*

One-eyed Jack for a Day

Ok let's take a break from all the house reports...

I've been having this stye/chalazion (in Hokkien we call it "bak jiam") for so many months. Close to half a year actually. Hehehe. It's not that I never took any medication to cure it but the minute it cures (pops) another one grows back in its place within the period of few days. I got fed up with it that I finally bit the bullet and went to see an eye specialist last Saturday to have it surgically removed.

I went to the the Oh eye specialist clinic at burmah road and it was my first time there! I was surprised to find a very classical looking clinic with classical looking instruments and hey! Even the doc is "classical looking" :x

The doctor first came in to look at my condition and he tried to clean my lids with a lid cleaner solution and he was so rough :( reminded me so much of how my dad used to clean our faces in the morning. Lol! It's a wonder I still went ahead with the procedure eh? Maybe because I felt kinda "comfortable" with him cos he reminded me of my dad in that aspect. Lol!

But just before the procedure, he told the nurses to treat me with "tender loving care". Lol. That's what he really said! And just before he injected me with the anaesthetics, he told me "bei thia eh" (it's not going to hurt) and one of the nurse quickly came and held my hands. Heehee. I felt so loved. *sobs*

And this was me on saturday...

Yep! I had to live with one eye for one full day on Saturday...this I did not bargain for cos I though it was going to be a fairly simple procedure and I would be running around in shopping malls after that. Apparently not! Anyway the bandage is off now, and my eye is recovering although it is watery and building up lots of eye wax. Heehee. Why, this morning my eyes were "taped" shut when I woke up! Lol! Ok everybody say "EEEEEwwwwwww"

House Progress Report Epi 8 (S02)

Ok...looks like the "season 2" of my house progress report is gonna be a pretty short one. At "episode 8" my story is about to finish. Yes! The renovation is finally nearing it's end! In fact, our contractor told us he's going to finish by tomorrow! Yippee!!!

Forgot to post this photo up yesterday, but could you believe buying a toilet bowl, a wash basin and bath accessories such as towel railing, hand shower, etc could amount up to rm900. Never take toilet bowls for granted again!

This was how the common bathroom looks like in the afternoon when we went over...

This is the rm900 toilet bowls and sinks...

The floor of the common bathroom before tiles were put up...

Called up the cabinet guy to come and do the final measurements before finalizing on the actual cabinet doors. As you can see, our cabinets would be from d format cabinet shop. Not too sure how is the quality like, but so far the service provided by our sales rep is pretty good!

Went to look at some lighting last night for the sitting room lighting. Not too sure which one we bought but we bought one of the 2 bulbs light. I think each costed us rm88 excluding the bulbs. The total came up to around rm220

Someone Trying out the LED lights in our shower head...yes! Our showerr head has led lights! Let's hope we don't get electrocuted while bathing...

This is how the common bathroom looked like when we went back at night. All in a day's work...

Have not been to the house yet today, but I guess the toilet bowls and fixtures should be installed by today.

And this here is the Armstrong ceiling boards all installed with the aluminum railings/fixtures

House Progress Report Epi 7 (S02) - All in a day's work

Ok i must apologize for my lack of words in my previous progress report..but i just can't find time to turn on my macbook and type a few words here...most of my previous posts were typed on my ipad/iphone.
So here i am typing it this quick (i hope) post in my office PC where there's a 10 min block quota! Gosh...i hope i can finish it in 10 mins...here goes...
On Saturday, we went over to the house early in the morning and saw that the kitchen is already nicely done...and the workers have already taken the liberty to use my kitchen counter top for the first time *yeay* (not!)

Some of you might have noticed by now, that being on a shoestring budget meant that the first thing to go was granite kitchen tops...its all but a dream...but i'm sure one day in my ONE house, i will have granite kitchen counter tops!!! anyway, we are using 2x2 tiles for the top to "emulate" the look of granite top :P

its still dusty and dirty but can you see my reflection there!!! it's sooo shineyyyy!!!! ♥♥♥ somehow, i'm just so proud of my kitchen counter top but on Saturday i saw one of the worker sitting ON the top while talking on the phone...oh welllllll....

just for fun, here's a photo of our washing machine that was kept in the washing area all these while...

now i could actually use it as a blackboard (or rather dustboard). can you imagine the condition if we were to actually live there while all the renovation is going on? that is why i am once again ever so grateful for having people kind enough to offer us a place to stay during our time of need *sobs* so touched :'( and it has been 3 weeks and counting! and still they have not finished...

and this is the common bathroom...wall tiles are halfway up...

i am quite ashamed to say, i didnt care much about the common bathroom..all i cared about was the master bedroom bathroom cos i foresee myself spending a lot of time there...yes i do love the bathroom a lot :x so the choice of tiles for the common bathroom, i did not play a big part in the selection...so if it turns out ugly, you can't blame me...but if it turns out pretty...you know my "influence" was in the tile selection :P

beige walls and sandstone-like floor (not up yet) but lookie...purple waterproofing!!!

never knew the waterproofing agent is purple! whee...so pretty! for the house renovation noob (i was a noob too until recently), waterproofing is a very very important step when renovating your bathroom (esp high rise) as it makes sure that your neighbour downstairs might not have a waterfall in their bathroom. so it is essential the contractor applies at least 2 or 3 coats of waterproofing. important!

ok now let's bring you to my fav part of the house 'x'

water heater is up, stock cock is up...now i realize the important of concealing wires and pipes...if you buy a new house, there is no way you will spend money to redo all the bathroom tiles just so that your water heater piping is concealed...but with a second hand house, no problemo!

ahhh..my lovely toilet 'x'

i know this is really weird, i don't know why i can't stop gushing about my toilet! and i love that divider wall too! (have i mentioned it before? 'x')

this here is the bidet tap...my choice! (mine!mine!)

the stock cock...shiney! you can see my reflection :P

sorry, i don't know why there are so many photos of the toilet bowl..LOL!

the tap at the sink which is also my selection! :D

and the little hexagonal corner next to the sink...hmm still thinkng what we should put there, perhaps a cabinet...i foresee another trip to Ikea

but we found a defect that day...

i never knew that part is made of plastic! i thought it's supposed to be ceramic too....hmmm a little turned off, but too late to do anything :(

someone getting all worried about his never-ending-flushing toilet...

well i guess if i would love the toilet so much, HE would love it even more since he is going to spend a lot of time there :x

the window in the master bedroom...

After that, we went off in search of ceiling boards for the 2 bathrooms. initially, we thought of doing plaster ceilings for the bathrooms but the quotation came up to be around rm400 for a 42 sq feet ceiling area which I think is unnecessary money spent in a space where no one will ever think of looking at the ceiling. So in the end our contractor recommended us to use ceiling boards. The current ceiling boards are the asbestos type which apparently causes cancer and has been banned. So our only choice is to use these newer types of ceiling boards called the "Armstrong". Again, another jargon in the world of house renovation. I was like what???? When our contractor told us to look for ceiling boards called the Armstrong. He even flexed his muscles while telling us the name of the ceiling.
Not to fret, nothing a little googling couldn't help. It's actually a brand of ceiling board made of those fiber materials which is both affordable and safe to use.

So Armstrong searching we went...we were brought to a deserted warehouse stacked up full with these boards.when our contractor brought us there, the bf whispered to me "this looks like a place where people normally get murdered in movies" -_-"

A box of these contains 10 pieces of the boards and it costs around rm160. Initially our contractor told us he needed 12 pieces and the seller refused to sell loose pieces to us so it meant that we have to buy 2 boxes (20 pieces) just for the extra 2 pieces!

The frugal auntie within leapt and said "no!" when I heard that. I'm not going to buy one whole cos just to get milk! So the bf told the contractor to just reuse the asbestos board for the remaining 2 pieces and guess what? The 2 pieces were just needed to cover up the tiny small areas in the bathroom -_-" lucky for him we decided to buy only one box or else I would have skinned him alive if I found out he made us spend another rm16o for 8 pieces of ceiling board which we are not going to use again! Moral of the story?? Do not trust every word your contractor tells you!